Slacklining skills on show from the Maverick team
The Outdoors Show continues in full swing over the weekend with appearances from celebrity mountaineers Bonita Norris and Richard Parks.
The show, at the ExCel centre in London’s Docklands, also features a giant zip wire and an indoor ‘ice climbing’ wall using artificial ice.
A large number outdoors companies and organisations also have stands at the show, ranging from the Ramblers and British Mountaineering Council to gear manufacturers DMM and Hilleberg.
Go Outdoors is also offering visitors the change to try out its Forest Segway – the all-terrain version of the two-wheeled electric personal transport vehicle.
There are also demos of slacklining expertise from Maverick and a ‘climbing village’ where visitors can try their hand at both indoor rock and ice climbing.
The Outdoors Show is combined with the Active Travel Show, featuring activity destinations from the UK and across the world, and with the London Bike Show, with an array of road and mountain biking machines and accessories.
Ticket holders can also visit the London Boat Show which is being held at the same venue. All four run until Sunday.
Among innovations at the Outdoors Show is Trekmates Flameless Cook System which the company says is safe to use inside tents as it creates no carbon monoxide. The system uses cooking boxes and flasks. Food is placed into an inner stainless steel box and the heating pack added to the outer plastic box.
Water is added to the heating pack and then the food box placed in it and the lid locked. Trekmates claims a cooking time of 7 to 10 minutes. A similar flask system can be used for heating drinks.
Also on show from Trekmates was their first ever technical mountain jacket, produced with input from the British Association of International Mountain Leaders. The soft-shell has a claimed 1000mm waterproof hydrostatic head.
Swedish tent brand Hilleberg had on show its first ever three-season tents. Up until now it has manufactured only all-year-round tents, but the two new models are aimed at weight-saving campers who don’t need winter performance.
Marketing manager Maria Svensson explained the Rogen and the Anjan are both named after lakes in Sweden.
Anyone smarting from the prices of the outdoor gear on view can wander across the venue’s main mall into the other-worldly marine environment of the London Boat Show, where huge, multimillion pound cruisers and super-yachts rub gunwales with supercars’ bumpers and champagne is the drink of the day.
Details of attractions are on the Outdoors Show website.
